


Kiss of Life

by afterandalasia



Series: Femslash100100: Around the Clock [6]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Genre: Allergies, Alternate Universe - Jewellery Store, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Community: disney_kink, Community: femslash100100, Crossover Pairings, F/F, Fairy Tale Retellings, Girl Saves Girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterandalasia/pseuds/afterandalasia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It doesn't sound like much of a fairy tale. Girl gets kicked out of house, girl gets job as cleaner, girl meets... girl?</p><p>The thing is, though, Belle makes things seem like a fairy tale. And Snow White finds that from clawing for scraps, she might actually be making herself a life.</p><p> </p><p>07:00 - Awakened</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for the femslash100100 [prompt table](http://femslash100100.livejournal.com/3727.html) "Around the Clock", specifically "07:00 - Awakened", and for the Disney Kink prompt [Belle/Snow White: Modern woman](http://disney-kink.livejournal.com/11667.html?thread=6685587#t6685587).
> 
> I think that I first saw the idea of deaf Dopey in a Descendants fanfiction, but I'm afraid I can't remember which. I've been mulling on this modern AU for Snow White for a while now, but hadn't quite been able to get it to take shape.
> 
> This also ended up getting so long that I'm actually going to split it into two parts, so there is a second half to come here.

It was a quiet afternoon, just before closing-up, when Snow White first noticed the girl in the café opposite.

She wished that she could say that it was because of the girl's poise, or the way in which she was so absorbed in the thick book open in front of her, and that probably played a part. But the truth was that the girl was just beautiful, dark hair thrown into a careless ponytail and simply, but chicly, dressed. For a few seconds, Snow White found herself staring, then realised that she was, felt herself blush, and went back to cleaning the glass of the front window. When she glanced over to the till, Clark was still engrossed in his paper, which probably meant that he hadn't noticed. That was good, as well.

No good getting distracted, not when she was supposed to be working. The Zwergen brothers had been very kind in taking her on to work in the jewellery store; the sign she had seen had been small and dusty in the corner of their window, and one of them in particular had been loath to actually hire anyone at all. But she had promised them all very frankly that she would do any cleaning or housework that was required of her, even when they explained that it did not just mean cleaning the store under their supervision but also cleaning at the house that they shared. She had agreed without any regrets, and only when she has alone with Roy, or "Doc", the eldest of the brothers and technically head of the store, had she explained that her stepmother had kicked her out, and that she had been interested in the position largely because she knew that a number of cleaning positions were live-in.

He had been sympathetic, and kind, and had seemed glad that she had not batted an eyelash at his fumbles of speech. And so it was that after only a couple of days with nowhere to go, she had found herself in the sparse spare room of their house, spending the mornings cleaning at the shop and with the afternoons to herself before working again in the evening. None of the brothers were dirty by nature, and once she had broken through the long-term neglect of the house it had seemed, to her, to really be rather light work in exchange for food, board, and even some money besides. They all seemed to have grown fond of her as something of a friend, as well as a member of staff, and that flattered her as well. She was not really used to having friends.

Yes, they had been very kind to her. Which was why it was so very, very important that she did the work in front of her. She went into the back to get the stepladder that was allowing her to reach even the highest parts of the room, and put all thought of the beautiful girl at the café out of her mind.

Well, almost all thought.

 

 

 

 

 

She saw the girl a few more times, as winter became spring became summer. She seemed to have a favourite spot at the café, but the books varied a lot, apart from one particularly ragged one that seemed to cycle round the others. It was just having an eye for detail, Snow White told herself, the same eye that had led her to make sure that Clark always had handkerchiefs in his pocket, and to separate Tristan's belts and shoes into brown and black, so that he could just grab them without being told off by one of his brothers for not matching. Tristan had grumbled hugely at them all for it, and it was easy to see why they called him Grumpy, but had eventually grudgingly admitted that it made things easier.

Just an eye for detail.

As the weather improved, Snow White found herself on a ladder, carefully repainting some of the details of the sign where the varnish and paint had become chipped during the winter. Doc had noticed them, but he was not steady enough to go up a ladder, and when Snow White had volunteered to do it he had looked surprised. But she had painted before, and it was quite nice to sit out in the good weather, with a small pot of gold paint, and delicately paint back in the beautifully-shaped words of the sign. Once it was dry, a very thorough layer of varnish would go over the whole thing, but for now a small paintbrush was enough. She actually had two, one a quarter-inch to cover larger areas, the other meant for fine painting which she was using to touch up a couple of corners and some fine lines. She'd always had a steady hand for things like this.

She hummed to herself, no song in particular but melodies that flitted through her head, and enjoyed the twittering of the sparrows on the rooftops far above her. As one came to settle on the sign just a couple of feet away from her, she smiled at it, and realised only a moment too late that would result in her dropping the paintbrush that was currently in her mouth.

" _Bother_ ," said Snow White, grabbing for it even though she knew she had no real chance of catching it. To her surprise, it was extended back up to her, not even having hit the ground - by the girl from the café.

"Yours?" the girl said.

For a moment, Snow White was too surprised too speak, then she quickly started climbing down the ladder. "Yes," she said. "Thank you, thank you ever so much."

The girl smiled, which only made her look even prettier. Snow White felt more than a little out of place in the overalls that she had borrowed to do the painting; she had needed to roll up the arms and legs. "I've seen you a couple of times," the girl said. "Do you work here?"

"Yes. I mean, only cleaning, and things like that," said Snow White, feeling a little shy.

"And painting."

She nodded, feeling desperately tongue-tied but still smiling foolishly. 

"My name's Belle," the girl said, sticking out a hand. Snow White went to take it, then realised that she had gold paint on her fingers, and almost drew back again. With a playful roll of her eyes, Belle grabbed her hand and shook it anyway.

"Snow White."

"Wow, that's so pretty!" said Belle, looking genuinely impressed. That took Snow White by surprise as well; though none of the Zwergen brothers had said anything about her name, when she had been at school there had been any amount of teasing about it. "Were you a winter baby?"

"Late spring, actually," said Snow White. "But my mother liked looking at the snow when she was pregnant."

Belle laughed, a delighted sound that matched the shine in her eyes. It made Snow White's heart flutter, just a little.

Before she knew it, they had been standing there talking and talking, about the café and the books and how long Snow White had been working at the jewellery store, and before she knew it she was talking about the Four C's of diamonds and how increasing numbers of buyers knew them rather than needing to be told about them as had been the case even just a few years ago, according to Doc. She knew that she was talking nervously, gripping to the one topic about which she supposed she did know more than a little nowadays after having worked in the store for months and had the brothers either talking to her out of friendship or explaining things to the customers, but Belle looked genuinely interested by it all. Snow White was just pointing out examples of the diamonds in the window when the door to the store opened and Tristan stepped out, his usual frown firmly in place. He opened his mouth to speak only to be hauled back inside and for Dom to take his place.

He cupped his hands, the backs of his fingers together and thumbs sticking out, held them in front of his chest, and rotated them until his fingers pointed upwards.

"Sorry, Dom," said Snow White. At the same time, she made a fist with her right hand and rubbed it in circles over her chest. She looked back round to Belle with a guilty smile. "He's asking if I'm okay. I should probably get back to work."

Belle looked between them in surprise. "You know sign language?"

"Only a few signs. Mostly Dom reads lips. But his brothers know it to a greater or lesser extent. Anyway, thank you, again, for the paintbrush."

"I should probably get back to the college anyway," said Belle. Just as Snow White asked, 'Student?', she added; "I'm graduating this summer. Three-year course."

" _Wow_ ," said Snow White.

Dom waved to get her attention, and repeated his question. It was, Snow White had very quickly learnt, his polite way of saying that someone - even one of his own brothers - had been spending a notable length of time not working. Considering the paint had gone largely dry on the brush, Snow White knew that he had a point.

"I'm sorry, I have to get back to work. Take care, though," said Snow White.

But Belle smiled, and it made her feel fluttery again. "I'll see you around," she said.

Snow White felt her blush coming back, and averted her eyes for a moment, by which time Belle had stepped around her and headed on her way. She snuck a peek over her shoulder as she was climbing the ladder again, to see the swish of Belle's blue skirt as she continued up the street.

Then she caught sight of Dom, who was grinning. He held up his hand, middle and ring fingers pressed to his palm, the others outstretched. From him, it was not a heavy metal symbol, and if Snow White had not been already been blushing she knew she would have done so at the sight of the sign. It meant  _I love you_ ; they both knew that Snow White did not know enough signs to understand any less blatant a tease. As it was, she did her best to look stern and motherly when she pointed at him and said, "Don't you start."

She saw him laughing to himself as she started back up the ladder again. She did want to get the painting done before there was any risk of the weather turning, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

Several times after that, she and Belle met. Accidentally at first, then deliberately, meeting up in the afternoons when Snow White was not working and Belle did not have lectures to be attending. They talked about all sorts of things, from the books that Belle read to the old movies that Doc loved to watch (Snow White loved them as well, but some of his brothers at least pretended to hate them), from what their favourite foods had been growing up to where their favourite clothes came from now. Belle preferred vintage shops and markets; Snow White could appreciate that, even if she made most of her own clothes anyway. Although the money that she earned would have been enough for her to buy them, she had grown used to making her clothes fit over the years, and now it was nicer to work from fabric rather than clothes that were second-hand anyway.

Snow White wanted to ask Belle in to see the diamonds through the microscope - it had been amazing the first time that Blythe, with his apparently permanent cheerful smile, had called her over on a quiet afternoon to see what a diamond really looked like, and what the difference between clarity could be - but she knew the rules, and she knew Belle well enough by then to know that Belle would not want to buy diamonds. ("Not now, at least," Belle admitted. "Maybe one day.") And the shop was still a shop, not a place for her to waste time with someone she was friends with, even when she was not working.

"They're talking about redoing the photography," she said one afternoon in the late summer, between sips of her iced water. Belle had a cream-topped sundae in front of her. "The long banners, in the windows. But Roy and Tristan are arguing, of course."

Belle smiled wryly. "From what you say, they argue a lot."

"I don't mean it to sound bad!" said Snow White, quickly. "When they argue, it's sort of... their way of discussing things, I think. They get a lot done after an argument."

"That sounds like some professors I know."

Belle's cake arrived; she had ordered while Snow White had been in the toilets, and Snow White had not heard what it would be. Absurd as it might have sounded to others, she smelled it before she even looked, the slice of apple tart on its plate. She shuffled her chair a little further away.

"Are you okay?" said Belle, as the waitress paused awkwardly at their table.

Snow White moved her drink over as well. "I'm fine. Just..." she nodded to the tart. "I'm allergic to apples. Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's not your fault," said Belle. She glanced about the table, and must have realised that the allergy was serious for Snow White to have moved away from it altogether. "I'll order something else, I'm sorry;" she made to turn to the waitress.

"No, it's fine. I just need to make sure not to touch it," said Snow White, ignoring how her heart felt like it was pounding in her chest. The fear was an overreaction, she knew that; as long as she did not actually eat anything with apple in, there was no chance of anaphylaxis. Not touching anything with apple in was a fairly sensible precaution. The flutter of panic that she could not help whenever there were apples in the vicinity was, she knew, practically irrational.

It didn't make it any easier, though.

Belle insisted on ordering something else instead, though, and waved off Snow White's protests about paying for the second dessert; she should have asked, she said. Never mind that apple was a rare allergy; she probably should have noticed that Snow White always refused apple juice or anything containing it.

"Some first aider I'm training to be," she said.

"People with apple allergies tend to know it," said Snow White. "I should... probably learn to speak up about it more."

The one thing that she had admitted to Doc, feeling very small and scared as she did so, was that she would not be able to live in the house if they had a lot of apples around. Even eating food from the same fridge in which apples had been kept could be dangerous. Roy had shrugged; between his speech and Dom's deafness, they knew more than a little about health issues. They would get rid of any apples in the house, and she reassured him that as long as she had sturdy gloves she would be fine to clean the areas that had previously had apples on or in.

For now, she kept to her water, and clumsily pulled the conversation back. "So, um, the photographs. They're arguing about who they should get to do them. Blythe wants to go with some new person, Tristan wants to go with the familiar face. It's been going on for days." Usually, for all that the brothers argued, they would sort it out within less than twenty-four hours. An argument that had dragged on for almost a week was not usual for them.

"Well, I can recommend a friend, if they're looking for someone," said Belle. "She's just about to graduate as well, but she's good. I mean, really good. Here, I think I've got some of her business cards around." She went rooting in her purse, smiling. "You'd like her, I think."

 

 

 

 

 

It might have been out of sheer frustration that Doc stepped in and told them that, at the very least, they would meet this friend of a friend of Snow White's. Rapunzel turned out to be a bundle of sunshine, with short, spiky brown hair, big green eyes that made her look far younger than she was, and a bicycle which had been modified to have a large storage area on the front which she called a 'Christiania taxi'. The brothers looked dubiously at each other, apart from Dom, who was regarding the bike with some interest.

The dubiousness lasted only as long as it took her to produce her state-of-the-art camera, use her tablet to show them some draft ideas she had already put together through what she had heard about the company, and spoke with confidence about how she intended to use the correct lighting to bring out the best in whatever stones they wanted photographs of.

"And honestly?" she said, looking Doc straight in the eye and speaking confidently. "I know that I'm still a student, which is why my prices are considerably lower than established competitors of my calibre. For what they will charge for one set of images, I will give you multiple; or you can just take the one set at the reduced price."

She started pulling out lights and sheets and close-focus lenses and other things that Snow White could not even keep up with the names of, explaining along the way what she was doing, and asked for an item of jewellery which they would like to have as an example, for free, to show what she could do. Clark selected a 1.5 carat solitaire ring, and Rapunzel bought out small transparent stands and clips to set it up just so, tweaking the lighting and the angles with precise, certain movements. When she was apparently satisfied, she took several shots, transferred the resulting images to her tablet, and showed the brothers how they looked. The diamond stood out brilliantly; Blythe burst out laughing as he pointed out where they could see a fingerprint on the edge of the band. They all agreed that the quality of the photography was stunning.

Before she knew it, there were handshakes, smiles, plans for a contract. Snow White watched from her quiet chair beside the cashpoint, and felt a warm flutter at being able to help them.

 

 

 

 

 

Rapunzel returned one evening, after the store had closed, in order to do the photography. It was still with a little shyness that Snow White had asked Doc if she could come with him and Dom, but he agreed both immediately and enthusiastically, and hummed one of his working songs to himself as he drove them back down to the store. Rapunzel was waiting outside, flicking through something on her tablet, but she looked up at the sound of a car and waved enthusiastically. She shook Doc's hand, hugged Snow White (to no small amount of surprise from Snow White herself) and intimated with a wry smile that she had decided to wait until they arrived for join Tristan and Gareth. Gareth was pretty good with customers, but he wasn't great at standing up to Tristan; Tristan could usually restrain himself to civility with customers, but not so much with people he knew well. In a way, his surliness was a compliment. But it didn't usually feel like it.

"Well, then, my dear," said Doc. "We had better net, get inside and stalk with Lumpy, I mean bump with Walky, I mean," he took a breath, "deal with Tristan."

That was always another thing in finding and dealing with photographers. Rapunzel did not seem ruffled even by Doc's more unusual turns of phrase.

For now, he ushered them inside, received an enthusiastic greeting from Gareth and a mutter of something from Tristan, and told Rapunzel that they were at her disposal. Snow White watched as Rapunzel discussed her way through the photos, all of them donning latex gloves to handle the metal and the stones alike. The number of lights, tripods and general pieces of equipment amazed Snow White, who had not realised that quite so much could be involved in photographing such small items, but she watched with her chin in her hand as Rapunzel discussed filters and light settings with the brothers, tweaking things this way and the other. A lot of it seemed to come down to very small adjustments to what were obviously already small items.

Finally, they broke apart for a while, the brothers mostly rubbing their eyes and muttering in tones that ranged from the surprised to the grumbling. Rapunzel took the opportunity to look around the shop a little more, at some of the pieces which she had not been asked to photograph, and Snow White watched with a faint smile. Rapunzel smiled back when she caught Snow White's eye, then looked thoughtfully at a white gold, diamond and emerald necklace at the centre of the emerald display.

She turned to Doc, walking over to him and asking something quietly. From where she sat, Snow White could not hear what it was, but Doc glanced in her direction and she felt a combined flutter of curiosity and nervousness. Doc looked surprised for a moment, turned to have a brief but intense signed conversation with Dom, then turned and nodded to Rapunzel. Her smile was dazzling. Almost skipping in her step, she turned and headed straight over to Snow White, who would almost have thought that there was some trouble were it not for that same smile.

"I just asked Roy if I could try something," she said. "Can you take off that jacket, please?"

Inside the store, it was often cool no matter how warm it got outside, and Snow White was wearing a light jacket that she had picked up second-hand. Beneath, she was wearing a plain black top, and it was not quite cold enough to give her goosebumps but she was very aware of her exposed arms and collarbone.

"Oh, that's  _perfect_ ," said Rapunzel. "Come on, come on."

She tugged Snow White by the hand to stand in front of the largest white sheet, and Snow White followed more out of bewilderment than anything else. Rapunzel tweaked the lights a little, adjusted her camera so that it was closer to Snow White's eye height, and shifted the big umbrella that she was using. It was not until Doc stepped up to Snow White that she realised he had been getting something out from the display cabinet, and she caught sight of the glitter in his hands just as he stepped up to her.

"Hold up your snare, your hair, doll," he said.

Snow White almost thought that she should protest. She certainly thought that she might, because it seemed like this was ridiculous, that someone like  _her_ could not even be touching jewellery like this, let alone wearing it. Her hands scooped up her hair without her brain really getting involved on the matter. But Rapunzel was excitedly working at the settings on her camera, and Doc seemed to have no hesitation about putting the necklace around her. It was cold against her throat, and felt so light that it was barely there even though Snow White was certain that its cost alone should have made it feel heavy. She gave Doc a look of what was almost certainly pure fear, but he smiled kindly and patted her on the shoulder.

"There we go," he said, stepping back.

Snow White let her hair fall, uncertainly, and then Rapunzel stepped up and adjusted the curls before putting her fingers under Snow White's chin and gently tilting it upwards. When she seemed to be satisfied, she backed up to the camera and bent to peer through it. "Okay," said Rapunzel. "That's great, that's... hmm." She popped back up again. "I need you to look... like you're looking at the most beautiful scene you can imagine. Picture that."

The answer came too quickly for Snow White to really think about it: Belle, in the warm light of the afternoon, with her hair lit up by the sun and a smile making her eyes sparkle as she spoke with passion about whatever her current topic of conversation was. Snow White felt the fear leave her in a breath, her face soften into a warm distant smile, and she heard the click of Rapunzel's camera before she could even really think about it and feel herself start to blush. Undoubtedly Rapunzel had meant a painting or a landscape or some other thing, not a woman waxing warm around her subject. For an instant, it felt as if everyone would be able to see exactly what - exactly  _who_ \- she had been thinking about, and the blush bought with it absolute mortification, but Rapunzel did something with her camera and then hurried over to her tablet again.

"Is it - is it okay?" said Snow White. She felt as if she ought to take the necklace off, but did not dare touch it.

Rapunzel was smiling at the image on her tablet, then looked up at Snow White with her eyes aglow. "It's beautiful," she said.

"Let's see," said Doc. Dom signed something as well, and Doc waved him over without really bothering to reply; Gareth hurried to see as well, even as Tristan muttered something to himself and buried his nose back in his thick book. Snow White stood, biting her lip, until Rapunzel looked up to the men with a smile.

"I can do makeup myself - I really don't think we're going to need much. Maybe just a touch of post work. Absolutely nothing extra to my fee; this was my idea, after all, although obviously you'd have to discuss with Snow White about paying her for her time and image. If that's okay with you?" she added, looking straight at Snow White.

She didn't know what to say. It had all happened very quickly and without actually asking her, but she was not much used to being asked about things anyway. Either things happened no matter what, or Snow White had to ask for them. She was not quite sure what to make of even wearing the necklace, let alone having her photo taken with it, and certainly not being used as some sort of model for an advert. Her first thought was to say no. There was no way that she was fit to be a model, not someone like her, who was not even fit to live in the house that she had been born into. She was just a stupid, ugly girl. Only Rapunzel turned the tablet towards her, and Snow White was honestly surprised, so used to not even looking at herself in a mirror that she barely recognised herself. The girl in the picture had shiny dark hair, a faraway glowing look in her eyes, and a smile that actually made her look... well, pretty, at least. Snow White put her hand to her chest in surprise.

"Can I... think about it?" she said, more quietly.

"Of course, pet," said Doc.

 

 

 

 

 

It was Belle that encouraged her to accept. There was something that caught Snow White off-guard in how much Belle  _believed_ in her; she was flattered, uncertain, and felt herself blush even as she looked into Belle's eyes. Belle squeezed her hand, and Snow White felt just a little bit bravery.

"Okay."

It felt almost alien, even the very light makeup that Rapunzel used; Rapunzel seemed shocked to hear that Snow White had never worn makeup before, until she gave a sad, sweet smile and admitted that until she left for college, neither had she. But Snow White did her best to not feel too strange beneath it, or beneath the way that Rapunzel curled her hair and used some product or other to produce perfect shining waves. If there was one thing she knew, Rapunzel said wryly, it was hair.

The girl in the photographs almost looked like a stranger. She was lily-pale, with a delicate flush to her cheeks, velvet-smooth curls of hair and sparkling brown eyes. Whether it was the emerald necklace, or a diamond ring on the hand against which her chin delicately leant, or a sapphire bracelet on her wrist, the jewellery seemed to suit her, look  _right_ on her. Snow White had always been a little relieved when it was time to take the jewellery off. She did not admit that it had almost always been thinking of Belle that had put the smiles on her face.

Weirder, though, was that it seemed to work. People stopped in the street at the sight of the poster in the window, came into the store. When Snow White was not there, the brothers would usually congratulate and thank her for it, which bemused her all the more, but when she was in the store, cleaning some cabinet or ensuring that there was no dust on the lights that gave the jewels their sparkle, more often than not customers would not even notice her. Only a couple of times did people recognise her, in her simple clothes with her hair swept back rather than made-up and in pretty tops borrowed from Rapunzel. They seemed surprised, but complimented her, and seemed oddly charmed when she looked surprised at the whole thing.

It snowballed. The jewellery store became increasingly popular, until eventually Doc came to her and said that they wanted to have a billboard for the store, and that they wanted to use her image for it. They had Rapunzel back; Belle came with her, and both had different tops and dresses with them. More than once, Snow White burst out laughing because the whole thing felt so ludicrous to her, but mercifully Rapunzel knew there was no malice there, and Belle seemed to find it charming. They settled on a navy dress with a wide neckline, the better to display the diamonds and sapphires that Doc placed around her neck. She felt not-quite-real while the photographs were being taken, and when she caught Belle's eye she could not help another of those smiles that made her feel warm from the inside out.

Of course, that was the one that ended up on the billboard.

 

 

 

 

 

Belle's graduation was in September. She had been accepted into a Master's course in something called Comparative Literature, which Snow White did not fully understand but about which Belle had enthused at great length. She was looking forward to seeing how conventional narrative structures varied between cultures, she said, and then looked a little embarrassed at herself for getting carried away with her words.

Snow White caught hold of her hand across the table, impulsively. "It's fine," she said. "It's nice to see you talking about it."

"I just..." Belle paused, shook her head, and glanced down the road to the distant horizon for a moment. "Even in university, I've felt like there's more out there, you know? I've always loved books, their stories, but stories have stories as well, you know? They don't just spring into being. And I've always wanted to understand that, as well. I love seeing what more there is."

"And that's what I love seeing in you," said Snow White. It came out more tender than she had intended, and Belle looked back to her again in surprise, but Snow White just swallowed and held her smile. "You see so much, in normal things."

 _You see so much in me_ , Snow White thought, and did not quite understand that either.

"Will you - would you like to come to my graduation?" said Belle. Snow White looked at her in astonishment. "In September. I'd like to have you there."

Her first thought was that someone like her would never be welcome at a university. But the last few months had shown how malleable the world could be. "I'd love to," said Snow White.

Belle squeezed her hand, and they both laughed again over nothing at all, and Snow White would have held the moment like a star in her hands if only she had been able to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies that the second half of this took so long to come up!
> 
> The Ms. de Vil that we see here is not supposed to be the Cruella we know, but her daughter. I needed someone who could be a big name in fashion, other than Edna, and hoped it would work.

"So," said Maurice. "Who's this girl of yours coming to graduation."

Belle rolled her eyes, although she was smiling as she worked her way through the washing up. "Father, she's my _friend_. Snow White, you remember, the girl who works in the jewellery shop."

"The model?"

It was strange to think of Snow White like that, but Belle had to nod. "I guess so." Even after months, Snow White seemed more than a little bewildered by the whole idea, all innocence and sweet smiles whether in front of the camera or not. Belle preferred spending time with Snow White in other ways, just talking at the café or walking in the parks, but that might have been a little bit selfish. After all, it was a bit more like having Snow White to herself at those times. "Though I think she'd be surprised to hear you call her that."

"You should invite her round for dinner."

"Mm," Belle tried to brush her hair off her forehead, and ended up with a smear of suds instead. "Probably not. She's got a really severe apple allergy, has to be very careful where her food is prepared. So obviously, she doesn't tend to eat out much either."

"She'll be okay at the graduation, though, right?"

"Oh, she knows what she's doing. I finally talked her into getting a prescription for an AAI, though."

That had shocked Belle. She had not finished her first aid training at the time, although she had since, but knowing that Snow White had such a severe allergy and no emergency medicine prescribed was shocking. Snow White had shrugged, looking uncomfortable, and said something vague about her stepmother not thinking it necessary. Belle had not pushed the point, said firmly that the past and the future were firmly separated by the present, and ushered Snow White into getting registered with a doctor as soon as possible. Although she hoped it would never be needed, that was the very nature of emergencies.

"I'd still like to meet her," said Maurice.

Although his tone has entirely casual, Belle knew perfectly well what he was doing, and shook her head fondly. All that they needed now was a comparison to-

"She sounds nice. Not like that Gaston boy."

Belle burst out laughing. Her father looked at her in bewilderment as she leant on the edge of the sink, not trusting herself to fish for knives in its depths while she did so. "You always do it," she said, wagging a finger at him. "Any new friend I talk about, guy or girl, you say they sound nicer than Gaston."

Maurice picked up one of the plates and set about drying it. "Well, there's a lot of people nicer than Gaston," he said reasonably.

"Yes, and I know what you mean by it, as well." For a moment, she considered flicking bubbles at him, but that was probably just a step too childish even for this evening's silly mood. "In any case, you shall meet her at graduation. Don't say anything embarrassing to her, okay?"

"I will save all of my worst stories for the second time, then."

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily, the weather was good for her graduation, although it did leave the hall rather hot and stuffy. The overall event was a little anticlimactic, after three years of work, but she had photos taken with her father, holding her certificate, and afterwards laughed at Rapunzel trying to give the photographer helpful suggestions and getting looked at blankly. They went for a drink afterwards, sitting outside in the sunshine, and Snow White drank her coke straight from the bottle, leaving her glass untouched in front of her. Belle could not even remember how long it had taken her to see it.

Snow White had Maurice charmed within minutes, it seemed, and within a couple of hours they were talking about old films and Snow White was listening intently to Maurice talk about his work as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever heard.

"It sounds fascinating," she said to Belle, when he left them for a few minutes to go to the bathroom. "I wish I could understand more than a quarter of it."

"Machines in factories that build things," Belle said. "He comes up with little changes that make them better."

"That I can work with," said Snow White, and they both giggled again just as Maurice returned.

"Not talking about me behind my back, I hope," he said.

Belle drained the last of her own drink. "All terrible," she assured him. "Shall we head for a walk? I've got some decent walking shoes in the car." She might have been willing to wear prettier shoes with her dress for graduation, but wearing heels would have been pushing it. All the same, they were new, and rubbing the back of her heel.

Snow White smiled. "Sounds perfect."

Much better than getting drunk with her coursemates, Belle had to admit. Just seeing Snow White smile always seemed to be.

 

 

 

 

 

"What's wrong?" said Belle. She had seen the difference in Snow White's body language from the moment she had laid eyes on her - shoulders slumped, head bowed. By the time that she had seen the younger woman's troubled expression, she had not even needed to. "What is it?"

Snow White looked up as sharply as if she had received a static shock. "What? Oh, Belle. Sorry."

"I'm a bit early," said Belle, taking her seat. "What is it."

"You'll think it's silly." Snow White smiled bashfully, and tucked back her hair. Belle propped her chin in her hands, giving Snow White a smile which she hoped made it abundantly clear that she would not, until Snow White looked up again. "There's a customer of the store who's holding a party, and she gave us four invites. She said that they would be Roy, me, and a plus one each."

"And?"

"And I don't know what to do about a party!" said Snow White. Her eyes went wide. "She said that she wants me to come because of the photos. But I don't know what to wear, or how to talk to people like her. She's rich! She's commissioned a load of diamond jewellery from them! I don't know what to do around people like that!"

It was too endearing for Belle to do anything other than smile. " _Snow_ ," she breathed. She reached over to take her hand, holding firmly. Somehow, Snow White's pale skin had made it almost a surprise when she had been so warm to the touch, the first time that Belle had dared to do so. "You'll be fine! You're the nicest person I know, I've not heard anyone have a cross word about you - even Tristan," she added pointedly, "at least so far as it being a cross word that he actually _means,_ and if they invited you then it's because they want you there!"

"Will you be my plus-one?" Snow White blurted. It was so abrupt that for a moment all Belle could do was look at her in amazement, although she could not help the trickling question in the back of her mind that wondered whether Snow White could really mean that as it sounded. "You're smart, and you know what to talk about. Come with me."

 _Not_ how it had originally sounded, then, and Belle worked not to blush as she mentally blamed her father for his gentle but prolonged teasing about how positively she spoke about Snow White. It was nice to have a friend from outside of college, that was all, and someone whom she got on with so well despite them having come from such very different lives.

She almost refused, all the same. There was an allure to it - a party, a celebration of the jewellery shop's skill and of how Snow's attention to detail and her beauty had both helped it - but Belle could not help the feeling that this sort of thing was not for her. Not a recent graduate, who still lived with her father; this was the sort of thing that really meant Snow White was a _model_ , in the way that her father had meant.

But Snow White looked so hopeful, and after all they had been friends before they had been a graduate or a model.

"Okay," said Belle.

Snow White beamed, her face lightning up like the sun, and squeezed Belle's hands almost painfully but it didn't matter at all. Not in the face of that smile. And, _Oh dear,_ thought Belle; _maybe there is something there after all_.

"Will you help me figure out something to wear?" Snow White added. She looked down at her white blouse and brown chinos, simple clothes that she could work and clean in and, Belle had no doubt, ones that would be easily and sturdy to wash. Snow White thought about things like that. "I don't know much about fancy dresses, but I'm sure this won't do."

"I know a few places," said Belle. "And more important, I have a friend named Edna."

 

 

 

 

 

Belle was not wholly sure how Edna had managed to talk both of them into new dresses, or how she had managed to get both of them so reasonably. But Snow White had been talking animatedly to her about seams and linings, and Belle had just watched fondly as Snow White had ended up in a vintage gown of simply, elegantly draped navy silk with tiny hints of gold embroidery that made her glimmer in the light. Rather more surprising had been Edna chivvying her into a gold dress, with chiffon skirts and a bodice that laced up at the back.

"Fitting without inhibiting, darling," said Edna. "Fitting without inhibiting. It will bring out the lustre in your hair."

She caught Snow White's eye when she glanced across, and was not wholly surprised to catch her suppressing a giggle. She felt more than a little bewildered herself.

She finally managed to disagree with Edna over shoes, insisting on flats while Snow White allowed Edna to introduce her to mid-height heels. When she twirled in place, for a moment there was something magical about the little changing room in the small vintage store. Smiling, Snow White caught Belle's eyes, and perhaps that should have broken the spell. Instead, it only seemed to make it more intense.

Rapunzel insisted on doing hair and makeup for them both. She told Snow White about the absurdly long hair she used to have, beyond her knees after having been banned from cutting it right up to when she was eighteen. Since then, Rapunzel had seemed to change its style or colour every other week; it was currently just past her ears, brown with pink and purple streaks. The blonde roots were just starting to show through, though, which meant that Rapunzel was probably not that far away from changing it again. She had admitted to Belle, somewhat drunkenly on one of their girls' nights in with some of their friends, that she hated the blonde because of her mother. She hadn't expanded beyond that.

"I'm a little relieved to not be wearing much jewellery," Snow White admitted, once her makeup was done, her hair curled. Rapunzel had commented with amusement that she barely needed to bother with lipstick at all. "It always feels... weighty. Even when it isn't."

From what Belle had gathered, it still meant a lot that Snow White could comfortably wear the clip-on diamond earrings, the solitaire ring and the single teardrop-shaped diamond all set in yellow gold. Her hands no longer shook so much that she needed help to do up the necklace's clasp, although Rapunzel had still very carefully checked to make sure that no hairs got stuck in the chain.

"And... there," said Rapunzel, putting Snow White's shoes in front of her on the floor. "Perfect."

"I can't thank you enough," Snow White replied. She stood up, ran a careful hand over her dress to make sure that there were no creases, and stepped into the golden shoes. Belle knew a few fairy tales like that. She took Rapunzel's hands, looking breathless and nervous and overwhelmed, and Belle stood up to rub her shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, lowering her gaze. "It's... oh, it's a long story. I never thought I'd get to go to something like this."

"You'll be fine," Rapunzel said, before Belle even could. But it was to Belle that Snow White looked, hope in her eyes. "Now, don't you dare ruin my perfect makeup job."

Snow White laughed, even if it was weakly, and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said. "I promise not to. Straws only, tonight." Releasing Rapunzel's hands, she held one out to Belle instead. "Come on, Tristan's driving us all there. Shall we?"

Belle made sure not to let her own nervousness show as she slipped her hand into Snow White's. "Let's go."

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, she should not have worried so much. Belle watched Snow White with a smile, graciously accepting the compliments of the hostess of the party and translating the rough shape of the conversation for Dom as she did so. Her Sign Language had improved vastly over the past few months. Belle had been surprised to find out that Dom had been coming as the fourth member of their party, but as he had cheerfully told them - grinning broadly, the words translated by Snow White - he was the perfect audience for people who liked the sound of their own voices too much, and very difficult to bore.

"Thank you," said Belle, as the server handed over a bottle of spring water and straw to go with the glass of champagne that Belle already carried. She opened the water herself for Snow White's sake, having found herself not eating apples some months ago so that she felt less worried about scrubbing her hands before they were supposed to meet up, and put in the straw for Rapunzel's. Weaving back through the party, she took the opportunity to be amazed all over again at just what sort of circle Snow White was befriending, not through any sort of determined social climbing, but with her own charm and willingness to help out her employers-become-friends. She slipped back to Snow White's elbow, and handed over the water. "Here."

"Thanks," Snow White said.

"Just water, dear?" said their hostess, who Belle had been astonished to discover was none other than the mistress of the House of de Vil, with its fashion lines. Her mother had been obsessed with real fur and skins; nowadays, they were known for their excellent faux fur that was said to be as warm and as soft as the real thing.

Snow White smiled sweetly. "Oh, I mean no offence; you have a marvellous range of soft drinks available. I have food allergies."

"Oh, you should have said! I'll have one of our chefs head to the Second Kitchen for you. What is it that you need to avoid, darling?"

"Apple, but," Snow White said quickly, "it's really fine." She indicated the bottle, with its fancy label. "You'd be surprised how much the taste of water actually varies, when you get to know it."

Ms. de Vil laughed, loud and long enough that Snow White looked surprised, but apparently without malice. "No, no! You're our guest of honour! Well, after your darling employers;" she nodded to Dom; who smiled and took another sip of his own champagne. "We do a _lovely_ homemade lemonade, made on the grounds. I'll have them open up a new bottle for you, get them to boil a glass. I'll find Jace."

Patting Dom on the shoulder, she slipped away before Snow White could respond. Snow White closed her mouth, gave Belle a look of bewilderment, then started giggling. Dom signed something one-handed, with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Yes, I think 'a character' would be entirely fair," said Snow White. She mimed chinking her bottle to Belle's glass. "Goodness me."

"Going okay so far?" said Belle.

Snow White nodded. "It is rather hot in here, but..." she trailed off, looking around them. People were mingling; that was a word that Belle had never particularly had reason to use before, but this was definitely _mingling_ , the way that wealthy people did so. There were a lot of suits and sequinned dresses, and Belle knew that if she had been left to her own devices she would have felt hopelessly underdressed. She owed Edna a bottle of wine.

The house itself was also beautiful, for all that the Gothic-styled architecture looked forbidding from the outside. It had always been rumoured that the house was full of pelts and taxidermy animals, but if that were the case then they had been put aside for the duration of the party. Instead, the huge doors had been open to allow people to flow from room to room, and the lighting was all white and gold. Ms. de Vil herself was wearing the intricate black diamond necklace which had been made for her, and apparently enraptured of it.

"I feel like an undercover agent," Belle said in an undertone. Snow White stifled another giggle. "Seeing how rich people live."

She had a suspicion that before the end of the evening, Snow White would be getting an invitation to a rather more lucrative line of modelling, but kept the thought to herself. It could be that Ms. de Vil had just wanted to meet Snow White herself, after all.

"I hope she's got multiple domestic staff," Snow White replied. "Cleaning a house even half this size is no fun by yourself."

Even after months, Snow White had not spoken much about her past, usually saying that it was less interesting, and less important, than her present. But she had been less daunted by the house itself than Belle might have expected, and in hindsight she had never seemed at all intimidated by the nine-bedroom property of the Zwergen brothers. "Well," Belle said, not sure what else she could offer. "My father's workshop can be bad enough. Sometimes I don't need a broom so much as a backhoe."

It was worth it for Snow White to smile again, the way that it lit up her eyes. It always was.

 

 

 

 

 

The first warning that belle had that anything was wrong was the crash of glass. She looked up from checking her phone to see that Snow White had gone ashen-pale, her bottle of water having slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor. There was a look of fixed fear on her face, _fear_ worse than Belle might have ever seen in real life before, and Belle stepped forwards quickly.

"Snow? What is it?"

She tried to look along Snow White's line of sight. There was a woman looking back at them from halfway across the floor, pale and dramatically beautiful with dark hair piled high and a striking purple dress. She was not scowling, but there was something more frightening about her flat, furious glare, Her eyes were fixed on them, and Snow White shied back a pace; when Belle touched her arm, the muscles were corded-tight.

"What is it?" said Roy, stepping in as well.

Snow White barely breathed the words. "It's my stepmother."

"Oh," said Roy, following Snow White's gaze. His kindly face hardened. "All right, then, let's find you somethere to fit sound, I mean, somewhere to sit down," he said. He put one hand on Snow White's shoulder, signing to Dom with the other, and Dom nodded and turned to lead them away.

Belle lingered for a moment longer, catching the woman's eye defiantly. So _this_ was the stepmother that Snow White so barely mentioned. She did not know exactly what had happened, would never push Snow White to talk about that, but she could see the fear and felt a burst of anger at this stranger. It was more important for her to be with Snow White though, and she only held the woman's gaze for a moment before hurrying after the others, hitching up the hem of her skirt to do so.

It seemed that most of the doors in the house had been left open, inviting people to wander as they wished, and Dom had found a small, empty sitting room. There was a couch against one wall, and Roy guided Snow White over to it, sitting her down carefully. She still had the fixed, frightened stare on, and Belle crossed to crouch down in front of her, deliberately breaking her line of sight. Snow White blinked, looked to focus for the first time in too long, and met Belle's gaze with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed. "I should have known, this is the sort of party she used to go to and now I've gone and ruined it for you. I-if you ring Tristan I'll head right home."

"Nonsense," said Belle. "First, this is for _you_ , and we're here with you, okay? And secondly, we are not going to let her ruin this for you."

Dom was signing rapidly, although the blank look on Snow White's face made it clear that she was too rattled to keep up. Roy sat down beside her, putting a paternal hand on her knee. "He says that we'll take care of you, love. We won't let her get near you."

"You don't understand," said Snow White, shaking her head. "She knows that I'm here now. I can't stay."

There was an elephant in the room, and Belle was the only one who did not know what it was. She could feel its weight and see its shadow, though; see them on Snow White's shoulders and beneath her eyes. She looked scared, and small, and so unlike the happy, sweet woman that Belle had come to know that it was like the worst sort of transformation. Whatever Snow White's stepmother had done, it had clearly left its scars.

"I'll talk to Ms. de Vil, if you want," Belle said. She took hold of Snow White's hands, and was not fully surprised to find them cold and tense. But Snow White held on tightly to her, and that gave her a flicker of hope. "She's clearly fond of you, and quite nice. I'm sure that she'll understand if we ask to not be near your stepmother tonight."

"I..." Snow White wiped tears from her cheeks; Rapunzel's makeup managed to stay in place. "Oh, I'm just causing you a bother now, really. I'll go home, you were enjoying yourselves perfectly well. It's been lovely, and I shall be quite happy at home with a book and my usual clothes. You should enjoy the party."

The last thing that she was being was a bother, but Belle could see clearly that Snow White's enjoyment of the party had been entirely ruined. Their small handbags had meant that they had distributed items between them, and she retrieved the tissues from Snow White's gold bag so that she could dab her cheeks dry, still sniffing. Roy and Dom exchanged a glance and a few brisk signs, then Roy pursed his lips and nodded gravely. They had clearly come to the same conclusion that Belle had.

"Well," said Roy, "it is letting gate, I mean betting fate, I mean," he took a deep breath, looking more flustered than usual by his own stumbles, "it's nearly ten now. My feet are bothering me anyway, and Ms. de Vil seems very happy with her necklace. She'll understand if we fake our, bake our, make our excuses."

"You don't have to do that for my sake," said Snow White.

He patted her knee. "No apologising. You know what my feet are like."

"Come on," Belle said gently. She stood up, drawing Snow White after her, and looped their arms together. Although Snow White still looked pale, there was at least some colour in her cheeks, and she seemed steadier. "We'll find Ms. de Vil, and Dom can text Tristan to come and pick us up. I'm sure he'll appreciate not having to stay up too late."

"Though he'll probably complain about coming back so soon," said Snow White, with a weak smile.

At least it was something, though, and Belle squeezed her arm. She had the urge to put an arm around her completely, but was not sure if that would stand out too much or make Snow White feel too uncomfortable when she was clearly shaken. They found Ms. de Vil easily enough, looking somewhat confused that they had disappeared at all, and before Snow White could say anything Roy had started to explain that he had trouble with his hips and feet and that they all kept long hours in the shop, and that as grateful as they were they would have to leave. She seemed disappointed, but accepted, shaking all of their hands and saying that she would be in touch soon.

As she was doing so, one of her waitstaff arrived, with a glass of lemonade and a second bottle beside it, looking a little out-of-breath and nervous.

"There you are!" cried Ms. de Vil. "Really, Jace, how _did_ you manage to get lost between there and here?" shaking her head, she waved to Snow White. "Here, darling, you look a little pale. Have a glass while you wait for your car, the sugar will perk you right up."

For a moment, Snow White hesitated, then she smiled and looked at Ms. de Vil gratefully. "Thank you," she said. "I really appreciate you going to all this trouble for me."

"Oh, nonsense, nonsense!" Ms. de Vil waved it away. "I'm just sorry it took me so long to get back! I ran into a couple of old friends," she continued, as Snow White sipped politely at the lemonade, "An old school friend of mine, Grimmy who used to work as a model for my mother, Ja- are you all right?" she added, as Snow White spluttered on her drink, putting the back of her hand to her mouth.

"Sorry," she said, voice tight. "Went down the wrong way. I've never tasted lemonade quite like this."

"Oh, did they bring the peach one? I should have been more specific." Ms. de Vil rolled her eyes dramatically, with a smile on her lips that said without words that one could not get the staff nowadays. "Terribly sorry, my dear. You're quite all right with peach, aren't you?"

"Yes, absolutely," Snow White said. "It's perfectly lovely, I just wasn't expecting it."

Her hands were shaking slightly where she used both to hold her glass, but otherwise she was acting perfectly calm once again. Belle kept a hand on the back of her elbow, standing close enough to hopefully feel supportive, and saw Dom catch Roy's eye and give a thumbs-up. Tristan would not be all that long, then.

"Anyway, yes, terribly easy to get sidetracked at parties like these. You know you've lived somewhere too long when you can't even cross a room without meeting someone you know," she added, with a mock-conspiratorial wink in Roy's direction. "But really, before you go - well, I was going to talk about this later in the evening, but first of all I am utterly enchanted with this necklace," she touched it gently. "And I would just love to commission the rest of a set to go with it. Earrings, bracelet, probably a ring or two as well. Could that be done?"

Roy looked surprised at her sudden turn to business, but caught himself and nodded. "Of course, of course! Just give us a call and we can work out all the details for you."

Snow White's hands started shaking more dramatically, and Belle quietly took the glass from her again. The waiter that had been there a moment before had vanished, and there was nowhere to put it, but she tucked it to her side instead. Snow White's hands felt hot and tight, suddenly, and there was a look of quiet consternation on her face. "Snow?" said Belle in an undertone.

"I just..." Snow White said. It was more like a gasp, and she was breathing fast, cheeks flushing beneath her light powder.

"Wonderful, wonderful," Ms. de Vil continued. "And now, the other matter. I do hope that you'll excuse me for talking to your start, but I was wondering..." she trailed off as she turned to Snow White. "Are you all right, darling? Would you like a place to sit down?"

Snow White put her hand to her throat, fear sparking in her eyes. Her next breath in had a wheeze to it, and her eyes fluttered.

"Snow?" said Belle. "Snow, look at me." She wondered if it was a panic attack, bought on by the sight of her stepmother and its clear effects, but Snow White struggled to breathe again and something clicked in Belle's head. She sniffed at the glass in her hand; it was undefinedly fruity, but could easily have hidden the smell of apple within it. "Ms. de Vil, is there any apple in your lemonade?" she said quickly.

"No, no!" said Ms. de Vil. There was genuine worry in her eyes as well, and she stepped forwards to take Snow White's other arm. "Even the peach one. I told them to get lemonade because I was quite sure!"

"Roy, call 911," Belle said. She thrust the glass to Dom, and made sure to speak clearly as she faced him. "Hold on to that. Don't let anyone touch it." Just as she was about to turn to Snow White again, the woman's legs seemed to give way beneath her, and Belle hurriedly caught her and assisted her to the ground.

They were gathering attention now, people turning and talking, but Belle did not hear what they were saying as she lowered Snow White to her side. Her skin felt hot to the touch, and what had been a faint wheeze to her breath had become a notable struggle. "Belle-" Snow White said, then tried to swallow and made a choking sound instead. Her hand grabbed desperately at Belle's.

"It's okay," said Belle, quickly, too fast for it to be true. She knew what to do, she was trained, but god, she had never actually treated anaphylaxis before, she had never done this. She grabbed Snow White's bag with her free hand, almost spilling its contents as she grabbed for the Epipen inside, relieved when her hand fell on it, "Now, I'm going to have to let go for a moment to do the injection, okay?"

She could hear Roy struggling to give the information that was needed, stumbling over his words more than ever and growing audibly annoyed with himself. Mercifully, Ms. de Vil took the phone from him with gentle words and took over, explaining what had happened and where they were. Roy knelt down beside them again, ashen-faced.

"It's okay," was all he seemed to be able to say. Belle passed him Snow White's hand, wishing that it did anything about the fear in Snow White's eyes. That would only make it worse, Belle knew, and perhaps that was the worst part. It had to be hard to try to be calm when your throat closed in on itself. "It's okay, love."

She pushed up Snow White's dress to expose her thigh, pulled the cap off the Epipen, and pressed it firmly to the skin. Counting was the hard part; she forced herself to count slowly to ten, ticking off the seconds by telling herself that each one would help far more than pulling away early would, and when she removed it hurriedly put it back into Snow White's bag where the sharp would at least be contained. She pushed the dress back down out of some desperate need to do something to help, and took Snow White's other hand, pressing her back onto her side when she tried to roll onto her back.

"It's better if you stay like that," she said. It was not quite the recovery position, but it was better than being flat on her back. Snow White was wheezing, breath rapid and shallow, and when Belle pressed fingers to her wrist she could not feel her pulse. "Shit." She checked the jugular instead, and felt Snow White's heart racing there. The colour had faded from her cheeks now, but even her lips looked pale, with no trace of their usual, beautiful red.

She didn't know what to do. It was terrifying. All that she could do was wait for the ambulance, hope that the Epipen did its work. But abruptly, Snow White tried to draw in a breath and clearly could not, her mouth gasping but her chest not moving. Her eyes closed, and she slumped to the ground, hands going limp.

"Oh no," said Roy, desperation in his voice. "No no no no no-"

Belle pulled Snow White round onto her back, her training kicking in before she even formed the thoughts. She had begun this course before she had even met Snow White, never dreaming that she might need it for anything more than cuts or insect stings, just wanting to round our her knowledge. She pushed Snow White's hair back from her mouth, then tilted her chin up. Mouth clear, no sign of blockage. Another quick check of Snow White's pulse; fast, but steady.

Pinching Snow White's nose closed, Belle closed her mouth over Snow White's lips and breathed air into her lungs. It was harder than she had expected, harder than the dummies on which she had practiced, and she had no idea whether that was because it was a real person or because of the swelling from the allergic reaction. But she saw Snow White's chest rise, and drew back to let it fall, before leaning down to breathe for her again.

It left lipstick smudges around Snow White's mouth, a mockery of a kiss, but Belle pushed the thought aside and checked for a pulse again. Still there, still beating. Ms. de Vil was saying that the ambulance was on its way.

She forced herself to focus. Rescue breaths until the ambulance arrived, keep checking the pulse. Something that she could do, for Snow White's sake.

"Come on," she said softly, between breaths. "I can't lose you."

Snow White did not respond.

Belle reached for Snow White's bag again, looking for the second injector that she should have been carrying. They were always supposed to be carried in pairs. But there was nothing there, just tissues and lipgloss and a small notepad, no room in the tiny handbag for the second shot of adrenaline.

No time to think about it. She would tell the paramedics when they arrived. Belle moved back to keep breathing for Snow White, and begging her, begging her desperately and silently, to hold on.

 

 

 

 

 

She started breathing again only when they got to the hospital. Belle found herself crying with relief, and the doctor looked more than a little bewildered to find himself facing one young woman and seven men when he asked who was with the patient. As soon as Snow White regained consciousness, her first words were to desperately tell the doctors not to let her stepmother near. She looked relieved and scared in equal measure when they said that the police were already involved.

From her bed, she gave her statement, before being allowed to see Belle and the brothers - who had become more her family than her friends - again. She hugged each one of them in turn, Belle last of all and longest.

"I shouldn't have drunk it," she said, voice still hoarse. "With her there..."

They had tested the drink and found apple juice added to it; speaking to the waiter had revealed that one Grimhilde Erthal, Snow White's stepmother and the woman who had glared at them across the party, had approached him and forced him to let her pour in the apple juice before letting him go on his way. Ms. de Vil was apparently distraught that such a thing had happened, and had spoken for Jace's good character.

"She'd tried before," Snow White whispered. Tristan had bought fresh clothes to the hospital for her, although he had scowled and refused to admit how terrified he had been, and the curls had softened out of her hair again. "It was why I left. Not apple. It was a ribbon, she..." her hand brushed across her throat; Belle could put the pieces together, and from the look in Roy's eyes he could as well.

Dom reached gently in, took hold of Snow White's, and folded her left hand into what looked to Belle like the heavy metal sign. He made it with his right, and touched them together, mirror images.

She almost laughed, just a weak momentary chuckle. "I love you all too," she said. Then her eyes fell on Belle, and her expression softened. "And I know I wouldn't be here without you."

"I made a better first aider with time," said Belle, keeping the tremor out of her own voice. It all felt distant, in a way, as if it had been someone else who had stepped into action and done what had been needed, someone else who had saved Snow White's life. Those words were so strange to think that it did not feel as if it could possibly have been her.

For an answer, Snow White reached over and hugged her again. She nestled her head into the crook of Belle's neck, and held on firmly, and Belle was more than happy to not let her go.

 

 

 

 

 

The police were not sure how much case there was, but they promised that they would try. There had been apple juice being served at the party, in cocktails and otherwise, and it was difficult to prove malice in a case of allergic reaction.

Snow White, for the most part, did not care. Justice would be best, she said, but she would not be cruel. She was happy enough just to be free of her stepmother's influence, to go back to being free again. But the brothers said that they would not let what had happened pass, and promised to seek out the justice for her.

She was happier in simple clothes, she said, not silk and jewellery, and as fall turned to winter she and Belle would walk hand-in-hand through the fire-leaved trees in the parks, and talk about their plans for Halloween. Rapunzel had offered a great deal for some Fall-themed shots, as long as she got to take some extra ones of Snow White to add to her portfolio. But the offer which Belle had suspected Ms. de Vil would make had not only arrived, it had been politely and sweetly turned down, in the way that only Snow White could.

"I'm happier here," said Snow White, as they stood on the bridge and sprinkled oats on the water for the ducks. Apparently it was much better for them than bread. "With the Zwergens. With you," she added, voice almost shy but gaze hopeful as she looked across. The ducks flapped and babbled beneath them. "Belle, I know you've said you were just following your training, but-"

"I was so scared," Belle admitted. "Scared for you, of course, I didn't want you to die. But it wasn't like helping a stranger. Because I was scared for _you_ , this woman that I knew, that I..."

Snow White took her hand, gently, as Belle found herself unable to say anything more. Stepping closer, Snow White pushed up onto the tips of her does, and pressed a gentle brush of a kiss to Belle's lips.

"Me too," she said, and did not need anything more. Then they both set words aside, and Belle cupped Snow White's jaw to kiss her once again, and perhaps, just perhaps, they really could live happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Origins of the human names for the dwarfs; hopefully it should have been clear enough which was which:
> 
> Bashful - Gareth. Gareth is from a Welsh word meaning 'modest' and was the closest I could get in meaning.  
> Doc - Roy. Roy Atwell voiced Doc, and was a comedian in the 30s and 40s.  
> Dopey - Dom. Apparently in Scandinavian languges this might be descended from the word 'dumb'.  
> Grumpy - Tristan. A Welsh name which probably meant tumult or noise, but sort of merged with the Latin word _tristus_ meaning sad.  
>  Happy - Blythe. Alternate spelling of blithe, which does indeed mean happy.  
> Sleepy - Sir Not Appearing In This Fanfic. Um. He just hasn't been mentioned in chapter one, I'm sure he'll appear eventually.  
> Sneezy - Clark. Named after Mr. Clark, the Storybrooke alter ego of Sneezy in OUAT.


End file.
